Jake and Katie leave together in a rush to call the doctor and get her bag.
“They’re having a baby,” Bess says, and she rubs her hands together in excitement. I immediately worry that she’s going to be hurt by it, but apparently she’s not. She’s beaming from up there on the roof. She looks at me. “Get up here and replace Jake, Eli,” she calls. She drops her voice to a low tone so she’ll sound like Mr. Jacobson. “There’s a shed to be built.”
I suck in a deep breath, grab the tool belt that Jake just discarded, and climb the ladder. When I get up to the top next to Bess, she leans over to give me a kiss, but at the last minute she leans away. “Did you puke?” she asks.
I grin. “Not yet. But I’m still willing.” I’m actually feeling a little better since drinking the beer. Maybe there’s something to that hair of the dog thing.
She leans a little farther and finally kisses me. “How much do you remember about last night?”
“Bits and pieces,” I admit. I whisper to her, “I remember Mr. Jacobson’s dick.”
“Quite impressive, wasn’t it?” Bess says with a grin. “Now I see why all the ladies at the bingo hall love him so much.”
I chuckle as I start to apply the shingles. “So, Jake and Katie are having a baby,” I say quietly so only she can hear.
“I know, right? So exciting.” She grins at me.
“You’re okay?”
She looks up, startled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I wish I could have given you just one,” I say quietly. I reach over and brush her hair back from where it has fallen in front of her eyes.
“It’s okay,” she whispers fiercely. She holds up three fingers. “Aaron is giving me three!” She laughs out loud.
Aaron yells, “Everything okay up there?”
“Fine!” Bess calls out.
“I’m going to go check on my kids!” he yells.
“See you later,” Bess calls back.
Suddenly, his head pops up over the edge of the roof, where he has climbed the ladder. “Sorry you had to see my ass last night, Bess,” he says with a grin.
“I’ll try not to hold it against you,” she says with a laugh. “I can’t believe Lynda never told me how hairy your ass is. You’re like a damn Wookie down there.”
“You suck so bad, Bess,” he says more to himself than to her, and then he disappears down the ladder. Bess watches as he walks up the hill toward the big house.
“If you ever get that much hair on your ass, I’m going to wax it while you’re sleeping,” she warns, pointing her hammer at me.
“If I ever get that much hair on my ass, I’ll ask you to wax it for me,” I reply.
“You saw his ass last night?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve seen it before. Many times. We used to shower at the bathhouse, remember, when we were younger.”
“The good old days,” she says with a grin.
“I prefer having my own private bathroom, thank you very much.”
She leans over and kisses me, lingering long enough to make it sweet. “You told me you love me last night.”
I nod. “I remember.”
“Did you mean it?”
I am shocked by the question. “Of course I meant it. Why would you ask me something like that?”